Anonymous asked:
The ACLU with other organizations immediately sprang into action and challenged Trump’s executive order in court as violating the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. We immediately got a hearing and argued our case. At around 9 p.m., Federal District Court Judge Ann M. Donnelly issued a stay, blocking President Trump’s discriminatory policy from taking effect and preventing refugees and immigrants from being deported. She did not rule on the constitutionality of the order, but for now, the men and women who would have been deported are safe.
[…]
Savor this victory tonight, but prepare to fight on.
It is not difficult for any decent human being to immediately apprehend why and how Donald Trump’s ban on immigrants from seven Muslim countries is inhumane, bigoted, and shameful. During the campaign, the evil of the policy was recognized even by Mike Pence (“offensive and unconstitutional”) and Paul Ryan (violative of America’s “fundamental values”), who are far too craven and cowardly to object now.
Trump’s own Defense Secretary, Gen. James Mattis, said when Trump first advocated his Muslim ban back in August that “we have lost faith in reason,” adding: “This kind of thing is causing us great damage right now, and it’s sending shock waves through this international system.”
The sole ostensible rationale for this ban – it is necessary to keep out Muslim extremists – collapses upon the most minimal scrutiny.
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/27/2017) – On Monday, January 30, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a news conference at its Capitol Hill headquarters in Washington, D.C., to announced the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of more than 20 individuals challenging the “Muslim ban” executive order signed today by President Donald Trump.
[MEDIA NOTE: CAIR’s news conference will be live-streamed on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational ]
good time to donate
When details leaked earlier this week about a spate of immigration-related executive orders from President Donald Trump, much public discussion focused on a 30-day ban on new visas for citizens from seven “terror-prone” countries.
But the order signed this afternoon by Trump is actually more severe, increasing the ban to 90 days. And its effects could extend well beyond preventing newcomers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, from entering the U.S., lawyers consulted by ProPublica said.
It’s also expected to have substantial effects on hundreds of thousands of people from these countries who already live in the U.S. under green cards or on temporary student or employee visas.
Since the order’s travel ban applies to all “aliens” — a term that encompasses anyone who isn’t an American citizen — it could bar those with current visas or even green cards from returning to the U.S. from trips abroad, said Stephen Legomsky, a former chief counsel to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Obama.
“It’s extraordinarily cruel,” he said.
The order bans the “entry” of foreigners from those countries and specifically exempts from the ban those who hold certain diplomatic visas.
Not included in the exemption, however, are those who hold long-term temporary visas — such as students or employees — who have the right to live in the United States for years at a time, as well as to travel abroad and back as they please.
Greenpeace protesters unfold a banner reading “Resist” from a crane behind the White House pic.twitter.com/TcWNIW8cmu
— AFP news agency (@AFP)January 25, 2017
Nobody seems to know: should we believe them, or not? Should we take authoritarians literally, but not seriously — or vice versa? But if we can’t get the answer right, this state of affairs will only get worse.
So: having had the displeasure of living under an authoritarian regime or two, let me share how to listen to them without losing your mind.
Authoritarians tell the truth about the future. They speak openly about what they are going to do. When they say things that seem absurd — we’ll build walls, ban those people, and so on — believe them.
Authoritarians lie about the past. They lie about the consequences of what they have done. They lie about the magnitude and scale of their achievements. No failure can be allowed. Everything is a success! Number one!! The best! Think North Korea.
kreuzaderny